Congratulations on your Gun Control issue. I think you did a good job of providing reasonable conversation starters and heaters within the constraints of your medium. It should be hoped that some of the ridiculous ideas for dealing with gun violence, with the energy of young people demanding common sense solutions, will become evolving standards in our country. Those who want to keep military-grade weapons out of the hands of teenagers should proceed with the goal of having the U.S. join the rest of the world to end the institution of child soldiers. It is the love and glorification of war that inspires mass shootings and bombings. In turn, the discovery that war is not sensible, reasonable, winnable or justifiable, let alone glorious, contributes to our epidemic of military-related suicides.
This is why the U.S. leads the world in gun violence: Our culture demands that we think good things happen when we add firearms to any tense situation. Our history shows us that bad things happen when firearms are added. It's like war. Americans think we can kick the ass of any country that challenges our global hegemony, but we haven't won a war since 1945. We think we can out-terrorize terrorists, so we call our terrorism counterterrorism, and we still march backwards into the love of weapons to the point of proposing revival of the world's greatest collection of nuclear weapons, with which we lost the Cold War. It no longer matters who wins or loses. It's just about having our fingers on the triggers.
In 1965, the U.S. Army designated me an expert in small arms. Today, I'm terrified of guns. It's not that I'm no longer proficient. I could tell you the results of each round I've fired in the last 15 years. What terrifies me is being surrounded by individuals who believe their guns will protect them and their loved ones and loved things. As a Christian, I am mortified by people who claim to trust in God while keeping a round in the chamber for "protection." As a veteran, I'm horrified to see us honored as a class when many of us have committed war crimes. The Second Amendment is irrelevant to the problem of gun violence as long as frightened Americans put their trust in weapons.
Rusty Nelson,
Rockford, Wash.
A reader responds to our cover story from last week "47 Good, Bad and Ugly Ideas to Reduce Gun Violence and Save Lives" (4/5/18):
Chris Campbell: Wow, slant your stories much... "If a product is killing an unbelievable number of people, the proper remedy is to sue the hell out of them."
Why is it that when a bad guy kills a good guy it's the gun's fault, but when a cop kills a bad guy it's the cop's fault?
Your left stance and bully pulpit only encourage Second Amendment advocates to lock in their heels more. To be fair, so does the right with the "pry my cold dead fingers" mantra.
All politics are local; what can be done right now? Single-point access to school buildings with student access codes keeps bad guys out. Schools can do this right now! How many of your other recommendations take political action that we've been asking for literally for decades?
Suing gun manufacturers for the actions of a human is a dangerous precedent. What's next? Knife manufacturers, car companies, rope makers when someone hangs themselves....
I really need to move. ♦
